complete verse (Hebrews 1:12)

Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 1:12:

  • Uma: “you will fold them up like a shirt and exchange them for a new one. But you, there is no change with you, and your life has no end.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “They will be rolled together like a mat and they will be changed like clothes. But you, you really do not change, your life has no end.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Just like a shirt is rolled up, You will roll up the heaven and earth and replace them. But as for You, You cannot be changed; Your life has no end.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Later they will all cease-to-exist, but you (sing.) however exist forever. They are like clothes that get-old and are replaced, because later you (sing.) will replace them. But as for you (sing.), you (sing.) remain-unchanged, because there is no end to your (sing.) life.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “On that day you (sing.) will like roll them up like a cloak. They will really be replaced like clothes which can no longer be used. But you, you will hold-fast/last without any changing. You will not grow old or die.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “They are taken off, they are changed. It is like that. But you will continue on living forever,’ says God.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

For the Old Testament quote, see Psalm 102:25 – Psalm 102:27.

addressing God

Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed.

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Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or modern English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

In these verses, in which humans address God, the informal, familiar pronoun is used that communicates closeness.

Voinov notes that “in the Tuvan Bible, God is only addressed with the informal pronoun. No exceptions. An interesting thing about this is that I’ve heard new Tuvan believers praying with the formal form to God until they are corrected by other Christians who tell them that God is close to us so we should address him with the informal pronoun. As a result, the informal pronoun is the only one that is used in praying to God among the Tuvan church.”

In Gbaya, “a superior, whether father, uncle, or older brother, mother, aunt, or older sister, president, governor, or chief, is never addressed in the singular unless the speaker intends a deliberate insult. When addressing the superior face to face, the second person plural pronoun ɛ́nɛ́ or ‘you (pl.)’ is used, similar to the French usage of vous.

Accordingly, the translators of the current version of the Gbaya Bible chose to use the plural ɛ́nɛ́ to address God. There are a few exceptions. In Psalms 86:8, 97:9, and 138:1, God is addressed alongside other “gods,” and here the third person pronoun o is used to avoid confusion about who is being addressed. In several New Testament passages (Matthew 21:23, 26:68, 27:40, Mark 11:28, Luke 20:2, 23:37, as well as in Jesus’ interaction with Pilate and Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well) the less courteous form for Jesus is used to indicate ignorance of his position or mocking.” (Source Philip Noss)

In the most recent Manchu translation of 1835 (a revision of an earlier edition from 1822), God is never addressed with a pronoun but with “father” (ama /ᠠᠮᠠ) instead. Chengcheng Liu (in this post on the Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology blog ) explains: “In Manchu tradition, as in Chinese etiquette, second-person pronouns could be considered disrespectful when speaking to superiors or spiritual beings. Manchu Shamanist prayers avoided si [‘you’] and sini [‘your’] for this very reason. To use them for God would be, in Lipovzoff’s [one of the two translators] words, ‘the most uncouth and indecent way to speak to the Almighty — as if He were a servant or slave.’ There was also a grammatical problem. In Manchu, si and sini could refer to both singular and plural subjects. For a faith that insisted on the singularity of God, this was potentially confusing. By contrast, repeating ama removed any ambiguity.”

In Dutch, Afrikaans, Gronings, and Western Frisian translations, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.

See also formal pronoun: disciples addressing Jesus, female second person singular pronoun in Psalms.

Translation commentary on Hebrews 1:12

Fold and coat suggest western clothing, whereas the Greek refers to rolling up a cloak or a wrap. Good News Translation is able to make this slight change for readers of English, since it does not affect the rest of the passage nor alter the meaning of the comparison.

You will fold them up like a coat must be rendered in such a way as to suggest the useless nature of the worn-out garment; for example, “you will roll them up like a worn-out coat.”

The writer repeats like clothes from verse 11. The word is singular in Greek, but clothes has no singular in English, and “a garment” is not common language. By introducing this repetition, which is not in the Old Testament text, the writer somewhat alters the meaning. In Greek as in English, the word translated be changed can mean “be made different,” or it can be used of taking off old or dirty clothes and then putting on others. The writer may be combining both meanings. If a translation is being made into a language which uses different words for “change” in general and “change clothes,” the more general meaning should be chosen if possible.

In view of the difficulty of understanding the clause and they will be changed like clothes, it is probably best to choose a rather general rendering; for example, “they will be changed like old clothes.”

You are always the same may be better expressed in some languages as “you never change.”

Your life never ends is literally “your years do not fail.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “your years do not end,” and Bijbel in Gewone Taal “… give out.” This clause may be expressed as “you never die” or “you always keep on living.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Hebrews 1:12

1:12a

You will roll them up like a robe: The author continued to use a simile here. It indicates that God the Son will bring the heavens and earth to an end as easily as a person rolls or folds an old cloak before he puts it somewhere or throws it away. The context implies that the cloak is too old to be useful anymore. Some other ways to translate the simile are:

like someone folds an old robe, you will fold them
-or-
Just like a shirt is rolled up, you will roll up the heaven and earth and replace them.

Use a natural way in your language to describe this action.

them: The word them refers again to the heaven and the earth, which were mentioned in 1:10.

a robe: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as robe refers to a type of outer clothing that is “put around” someone. In the Jewish culture it often referred to a robe or cloak. Some cultures may use a shirt or cloth or some other type of outer garment. Use a natural word in your language.

1:12b

like a garment they will be changed: In this clause the author continued the figurative language of 1:11b–12a. Here he said that the universe was going to be changed just as people change their clothing. Some other ways to translate the clause are:

They will be replaced like clothes that can no longer be used.
-or-
It will be like people exchanging old clothes for new ones.

a garment: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as garment also occurred in 1:11b.

1:12c

but You remain the same, and Your years will never end: Here the author contrasted God’s Son with the universe. Hebrews 1:11b–12b described how the universe will not last forever. Hebrews 1:12c indicates that unlike the universe, God’s Son will remain the same forever. He will not change, and he will never die. He will live forever.

Some other ways to translate this meaning are:

But as for you, you remain the same, and there will never be any end to your life.
-or-
But you, you cannot be changed. You will live forever.

General Comment on 1:11–12

These verses are a quotation from Psalm 102, which is Hebrew poetry. It is natural in this type of Hebrew poetry to repeat the same meanings in different words. In some languages it will be more natural to combine 1:11–12 and have less repetition. For example:

11–12 Someday heaven and earth will become useless like old clothes, and they will be replaced. But you will continue to live forever, and you will never change.

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